ApeCoin (APE), the Ethereum-based token for the fast-growing Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) ecosystem, is on an absolute tear as it rallied to a one-month high of $16.72 on Wednesday, outperforming the rest of the crypto market.
The price of APE has corrected slightly by press time, with the token changing hands at around $16.68 per CoinMarketCap.
This still represents a massive 36% increase over the last day, as APE soared past Decentraland’s MANA to become the 33rd-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, valued at more than $4.7 billion.
APE’s impressive rally can likely be attributed to several factors, including the token’s listing on Gemini Earn, a lending program by crypto exchange Gemini which allows users to lend their digital assets to institutional borrowers and earn interest.
However, the more likely reason is the growing speculation over the recent announcement by Yuga Labs—the creators of the BAYC NFT collection—about its upcoming metaverse called Otherside.
According to Bored Ape owner Renegademaster, Yuga Labs is preparing to launch land sales for the Otherside project, held “as a Dutch auction of some sort” with a starting price of 600 APE, which is nearly $10,000 today.
“This info was sent to me by a reliable source, however is not confirmed or official news. Speculation at this stage so please DYOR as always!” added Renegademaster.
According to them, the Otherside project land sale would also come with airdrops for the owners of BAYC and other Yuga Labs’ NFT collections, such as Mutant Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks, among others.
ApeCoin, Otherside, and BAYC
First teased in March, the Otherside project is expected to launch before the end of April.
While details of Yuga Labs’ new metaverse venture are scarce, it was confirmed that it would be powered by ApeCoin.
ApeCoin itself was launched just a few days before the Otherside original announcement and could be claimed by Bored and Mutant Ape Yacht Club holders.
APE is managed by the ApeCoin DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) affiliated with the BAYC franchise and not by Yuga Labs.
Elsewhere in the market, several other NFT and gaming tokens are on the rise too.
The Sandbox’s SAND spiking by more than 7.7% in the past 24 hours, and Enjin Coin has jumped by about 7% over the same span.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.
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